Malaysia Open Super Series: Wang Yihan proves too strong for Saina Nehwal in semi-final showdown
China’s top seed, Wang Yihan, asserts her supremacy in the arena of badminton as she has crushed India’s Saina Nehwal in Women’s Singles semi-final of the 2012 Malaysia Open Super Series at National Sports Complex, in Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday, January 14.
Yihan, who has been place at the top position in Women’s Singles world placements, showed her higher class against Saina who is currently World Number Four. The impressive performance of the Chinese shuttler earned her a spot in the final of the tournament.
The Chinese played wonderful badminton in the semi-final showdown and stamped his authority in the arena of Badminton. Saina could not match the perfection of her higher ranked Chinese opponent and lost the contest in straight games.
Saina started the opening game in a positive way as she played with precision. Her semi-smashes and attacking clears disturbed the momentum of Yihan until 8-5. At this stage the Chinese lady accelerated her speed to take the bird early and started to dictate the pace of rallies.
Yihan pushed Saina on the back foot by playing with aggression and remained successful in establishing a small lead of 11-9 until the one-minute interval in first game.
In the concluding half of opening set, Yihan did not let her rival to level the score even for a single time. She moved Saina in all areas by playing positive badminton and finished the opening set with an impressive margin of 21-15.
In the following game, Saina played to his full potential in the opening half of the set and put up strong resistance until the score reached at 10-10. Until the break, Yihan could only manage a one-point lead of 11-10.
After the break, Yihan geared up her speed at net and created trouble for Saina who had to lean forward to lift the tumbling net shots. The Indian also returned many weaker shots from net area which helped Chinese player to execute powerful smashes.
Yihan remained positive in the whole game and did not miss any chance to maintain pressure on her Indian challenger. She remained on the right track and ended the second set with a 21-16 score on the board. The Chinese ended this 41-minute contest with a convincing margin of 21-15 and 21-16.
In the title match, Yihan will take on the winner of Women’s Singles second semi-final between Wang Shixian and Wang Xin.
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